Sutton: Health care key issue for Ohio voters

Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Betty Sutton, at a campaign stop in Fremont on Thursday, said 2,070 Sandusky County residents have received access to health care through the state's Medicaid expansion.(Photo11: Molly Corfman/The News-Messenger)Buy Photo

NEWARK – Betty Sutton, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and running mate of Richard Cordray, said healthcare is clearly the top issue for Ohio voters in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Sutton, who has served at the city, county, state and federal levels of government, said healthcare is a key difference between the Democratic ticket and Republicans, led by gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine.

"The most important issue people bring up is health care, no matter the town or community," Sutton said. "There's not a place we go to there aren't people affected. That is truly the defining issue we see prevalent across the state."

Sutton, the youngest woman to win a seat in the Ohio Statehouse and a U.S. Congresswoman from 2007 to 2013, came to Newark on Wednesday, two weeks after Republican lieutenant governor candidate Jon Husted visited.

"It's been a pleasure just getting out across the state of Ohio and seeing first-hand what people are worried about and what their dreams and hopes are," Sutton said. "They want to know we will protect them from discrimination based on existing conditions.

"That's certainly something I've fought for on the behalf of all Ohioans. I put forth an amendment to stop discrimination based on existing conditions. On Day 1 as attorney general, DeWine filed a lawsuit to overturn those protections. That is a very big distinction."

DeWine, who joined the U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit that challenged the Affordable Care Act, now says he wouldn't eliminate Medicaid expansion, largely because of addiction treatment provided under it, but he would overhaul it. That could affect the number of people who have access to treatment.

"At the debate, Mike DeWine tried to suggest he's always been for protecting people with pre-existing conditions," Sutton said. "That is just a lie."

Sutton said another key difference between the Democratic and Republican tickets is the commitment to provide funding for local governments. She said the measure of state government's success is not an arbitrary measure, such as the amount in the Rainy Day Fund.

Cities and counties have complained about the reduction in Local Government Fund revenue, while Gov. John Kasich has touted the increase in the state's Rainy Day Fund to help guard against a future economic downturn.

"Restoring the Local Government Fund is a key tenant of our campaign," Sutton said. "State government takes so much from our communities and puts more burden on them. They filled the Rainy Day Fund with dollars we sent to them and left us with potholes and not enough for safety forces."

Sutton said the next governor may have to find another destination for the revenue going into the Rainy Day Fund, because it's almost reached its statutory limit.